It’s a brown-on-brown landscape—harsh and beautiful. The aqua-jewel tones of the Dead Sea on one side juxtaposed against the sculpted, brown and cream crags, peaks and hills on the other make for a dramatic place to have a palace where a major rebellion took place. It is the hilltop fortress of Masada, which was first fortified by Herod the Great in the late first century BC. He was apparently so paranoid about his people possibly revolting that he built this impenetrable fortress. “He’s a perfect case study for a shrink,” says our guide Paule with a smile. “He was so scared that he feared his own shadow.” He even executed his wife, Mariamne, by hanging when she was 25, and also the sons she gave him so that they could not avenge her death. There’s a cable car for those who don’t opt for the tiring 40-minute hike along the ancient snake path, so called because it twists and turns along the eastern side.
What makes Masada so special and poignant is the story behind it. And to understand the drama that took place on the hilltop, one must start with a visit to the brand new museum at the base of the mountains comprising nine rooms, each devoted to a separate subject. The most important archaeological findings dug up at Masada are showcased here. Nearly all historical information about Masada comes from the 1st century Jewish historian Josephus Flavius. Three of the rooms are devoted to Herod who first used this as a winter palace.
Original dishes from Herod’s palace, the story of the port of Caesarea that he built, and even columns and colourful wall decorations that remained in his palace are seen. Another rare find in the museum is the pay slip of a Roman soldier on a piece of papyrus. He was among the Roman soldiers who, historian Flavius says, climbed up the mountain.
Masada was extensively excavated between 1963 and 1965 by an expedition led by Israeli archaeologist Yigael Yadin. Due to its remote location and arid environment, the site remained largely untouched by humans or nature for over two millennia! One can enter through the Snake Path Gatehouse with stone benches and floors of hewn stone slabs. In the Northern Palace’s lowest level are splendid frescoes that have still survived. Masada’s large bathhouse, which King Herod and his entourage basked in, is impressive. It has a dressing room, a tepidarium or a lukewarm room, a cold room, after that the caldarium or hot rooms with short clay pillars still visible, and finally the frigidarium with a cold pool. The wonders of ancient plumbing and engineering are admirable. Many mikvehs or ritual baths were also found because, according to the Torah, Jews have to purify themselves in pure water collected from springs or rainfall. Towering Grecian columns grace the front, while on top there are the remains of a village: living spaces, washrooms and storerooms, and even mini dovecots for breeding doves. We see portions of a Byzantine church probably dating back to the fifth century when a small group of monks lived here and used the tranquility of the desert to communicate with God.
The story of Masada is like a script of a dramatic film with a chilling climax. Following the destruction of the Holy Temple in 70 AD, Jews fleeing the exile and persecution in Jerusalem came to join fellow refugees in Masada. They modified the fortress to fit their religious needs, constructing synagogues and ritual baths. After the fall of Jerusalem and destruction of the Temple, the Romans laid siege to the mountain, where an extremist group of rebels—about 1,000 men, women and children led by Eleazar Ben Yair—continued to hold out desperately. The Romans built a massive earthen ramp using Jewish slaves to reach the top. As the walls were about to be breached, the last defenders chose suicide to slavery. When the Romans swarmed to the top, except for two women and five children, who had survived by hiding, they found only silence and corpses.
The Roman ramp still stands on the western side and can be climbed on foot. Solving the water problems is one of the most brilliant aspects of Herod’s palace. “There was an elaborate system of cisterns which held rainwater and aqueducts,” explains Paule. Convoys of animals also brought the water up the hill, which was also used for his recreation like bath houses and swimming pools. One of the striking features of Masada are the large storerooms, which revealed hundreds of clay pots that could hold large amounts of grains, oil, nuts and seeds.
All over the site are the glossy, iridescent black birds with orange feathers called Tristram’s starling. What was found here? Over five thousand coins, shards of pottery that may have been used as food coupons, and scroll fragments thought to have been destroyed by the Roman army. Even a pair of leather sandals were found in one of the dwellings—the dry desert climate here has ensured that artifacts were preserved for 2,000 years! Historians think that a group of pot shards called ostraca with names on them were the lots that Eleazar Ben Yair and his friends drew on the night of their suicide.
Since being excavated, the site has served as a symbolic venue for the Jewish state, a stage for military graduation ceremonies and metaphor for a country that will never give up. Climbing to Masada along the snake path is considered a rite of passage for army trainees. It also offers an ideal backdrop for open-air operas that have been performed here as an annual event with an illuminated outdoor stage at the foot of the mountain.
Some see the Jewish rebels’ last stand against the Romans at Masada as a symbol of the struggle for freedom from oppression; others see the battle as a myth, due to the discrepancies between archaeological findings, the 28 bodies found, and Josephus’ own account of the events. “But whatever it is, Masada is a powerful place with many unsolved riddles that draws tourists year after year,” says Paule.